The Gold Dome , a geodesic dome in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , is a landmark on Route 66 . It was built in 1958 and is located at the intersection of NW 23rd Street and North Classen Boulevard. It was declared eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
71-551: In 1958, the Citizens State Bank began construction. The Gold Dome building was the fifth geodesic dome constructed in the world and the first to be used as a bank. It was described as “one of the nation’s most revolutionary bank designs.” Using the geodesic dome design created by futurist and architect Buckminster Fuller , the architects for the Citizens State Bank, Bailey, Bozalis, Dickinson, and Roloff of Oklahoma City created this unusual Oklahoma City landmark. The dome
142-494: A Verb , he wrote: "I live on Earth at present, and I don't know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing—a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process—an integral function of the universe." Fuller wrote that the universe's natural analytic geometry was based on tetrahedra arrays. He developed this in several ways, from the close-packing of spheres and the number of compressive or tensile members required to stabilize an object in space. One confirming result
213-552: A commitment to "the search for the principles governing the universe and help advance the evolution of humanity in accordance with them ... finding ways of doing more with less to the end that all people everywhere can have more and more." By 1928, Fuller was living in Greenwich Village and spending much of his time at the popular café Romany Marie 's, where he had spent an evening in conversation with Marie and Eugene O'Neill several years earlier. Fuller accepted
284-573: A design review board before demolishing or modifying buildings in this area. In July 2001 Bank One , which owned the Gold Dome building, applied to the Urban Design Commission (the result of 1998 efforts) for permission to demolish the building. The bank stated that the structure was too large to serve as a bank and refurbishing it would be too costly (Bank One estimated it would cost roughly $ 1.7 million). The bank intended to sell
355-432: A family inheritance. Fuller associated the word Dymaxion , a blend of the words dy namic , max imum , and tens ion to sum up the goal of his study, "maximum gain of advantage from minimal energy input". The Dymaxion was not an automobile but rather the 'ground-taxying mode' of a vehicle that might one day be designed to fly, land and drive — an "Omni-Medium Transport" for air, land and water. Fuller focused on
426-807: A fine-mist shower that reduces water consumption. According to Fuller biographer Steve Crooks, the house was designed to be delivered in two cylindrical packages, with interior color panels available at local dealers. A circular structure at the top of the house was designed to rotate around a central mast to use natural winds for cooling and air circulation. Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. (formally called Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets and commonly referred to as Vitamin Cottage or Natural Grocers )
497-440: A full skin of concrete it was not until 1949 that Fuller erected a geodesic dome building that could sustain its own weight with no practical limits. It was 4.3 meters (14 feet) in diameter and constructed of aluminium aircraft tubing and a vinyl-plastic skin, in the form of an icosahedron . To prove his design, Fuller suspended from the structure's framework several students who had helped him build it. The U.S. government recognized
568-485: A habit of being familiar with and knowledgeable about the materials that his later projects would require. Fuller earned a machinist 's certification, and knew how to use the press brake , stretch press, and other tools and equipment used in the sheet metal trade. Fuller attended Milton Academy in Massachusetts, and after that began studying at Harvard College , where he was affiliated with Adams House . He
639-551: A job decorating the interior of the café in exchange for meals, giving informal lectures several times a week, and models of the Dymaxion house were exhibited at the café. Isamu Noguchi arrived during 1929— Constantin Brâncuși , an old friend of Marie's, had directed him there —and Noguchi and Fuller were soon collaborating on several projects, including the modeling of the Dymaxion car based on recent work by Aurel Persu . It
710-534: A local OKC developer, purchased the Gold Dome at the public auction for $ 800,000. He claimed in September 2012 to have no plans to tear it down, but reversed this stance in March 2013, applying for a demolition permit for the historic structure which the city has refused to issue. In June 2013, Edmond environmental engineering firm TEEMCO announced plans to renovate the Gold Dome and move its 65-person operation into
781-648: A majority of its sales. The company made its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in July 2012, raising $ 107 million. Its products include vitamins , dietary supplements , natural and organic food , organic produce and natural body care products. The company has a manifesto entitled "What We Won't Sell and Why", which includes artificial colors and flavors, artificial preservatives, irradiated food and meat raised using artificial hormones and antibiotics, among others. In 2018,
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#1732772276738852-469: A new apparatus for human propulsion of small boats. By age 12, he had invented a 'push pull' system for propelling a rowboat by use of an inverted umbrella connected to the transom with a simple oar lock which allowed the user to face forward to point the boat toward its destination. Later in life, Fuller took exception to the term "invention." Years later, he decided that this sort of experience had provided him with not only an interest in design, but also
923-442: A transportation fuel by people commuting to work represents a huge net loss compared to their actual earnings. An encapsulation quotation of his views might best be summed up as: "There is no energy crisis, only a crisis of ignorance." Though Fuller was concerned about sustainability and human survival under the existing socioeconomic system, he remained optimistic about humanity's future. Defining wealth in terms of knowledge as
994-489: A vehicle at our disposal, [Fuller] felt that human travel, like that of birds, would no longer be confined to airports, roads, and other bureaucratic boundaries, and that autonomous free-thinking human beings could live and prosper wherever they chose. — Lloyd S. Sieden, Bucky Fuller's Universe , 2000 To his young daughter Allegra: Fuller described the Dymaxion as a " zoom-mobile , explaining that it could hop off
1065-488: A white sphere of light. A voice spoke directly to Fuller, and declared: From now on you need never await temporal attestation to your thought. You think the truth. You do not have the right to eliminate yourself. You do not belong to you. You belong to the Universe. Your significance will remain forever obscure to you, but you may assume that you are fulfilling your role if you apply yourself to converting your experiences to
1136-593: Is a Colorado -based health food chain. The business was founded in 1955 as a door-to-door sales operation by Margaret and Philip Isely . They opened the first Vitamin Cottage store in Lakewood, Colorado , in 1963. After Margaret Isely's death in 1997, the Iselys' children took over the business the following year. Beginning in 2008, the company name was phased to Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage to emphasize that groceries, rather than nutritional supplements, formed
1207-485: Is constructed of 625 panels, ranging in size from 7.5 to 11.5 feet (3.5 m) in length, 60 – 70 pounds in weight each, and spanning a diameter of 145 feet (44 m). The interior covers about 27,000 square feet.1 The Gold Dome bank was an approximately $ 1 million investment. In 1998, the Oklahoma City Government pursued a new zoning area along NW 23rd Street, including the area where the Gold Dome
1278-540: Is located in order to preserve the unique architecture and “commercial nature” of NW 23rd Street, the former path of Route 66 through central Oklahoma City. Twenty-third Street is located between the urban conservation districts of the Paseo and Jefferson Park to the north, and the historic preservation districts of Mesta Park and Heritage Hills to the South. The new zoning area would require property owners to gain permission from
1349-693: The American Humanist Association named him the 1969 Humanist of the Year. In 1976, Fuller was a key participant at UN Habitat I , the first UN forum on human settlements. Fuller's last filmed interview took place on June 21, 1983, in which he spoke at Norman Foster 's Royal Gold Medal for architecture ceremony. His speech can be watched in the archives of the AA School of Architecture, in which he spoke after Sir Robert Sainsbury 's introductory speech and Foster's keynote address. In
1420-455: The Dymaxion car project. International recognition began with the success of huge geodesic domes during the 1950s. Fuller lectured at North Carolina State University in Raleigh in 1949, where he met James Fitzgibbon, who would become a close friend and colleague. Fitzgibbon was director of Geodesics, Inc. and Synergetics, Inc. the first licensees to design geodesic domes. Thomas C. Howard
1491-884: The Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects the same year. Also in 1970, Fuller received the title of Master Architect from Alpha Rho Chi (APX), the national fraternity for architecture and the allied arts. In 1976, he received the St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates. In 1977, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement . He also received numerous other awards, including
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#17327722767381562-520: The Presidential Medal of Freedom , presented to him on February 23, 1983, by President Ronald Reagan . Fuller was born on July 12, 1895, in Milton, Massachusetts , the son of Richard Buckminster Fuller, a prosperous leather and tea merchant, and Caroline Wolcott Andrews. He was a grand-nephew of Margaret Fuller , an American journalist, critic, and women's rights advocate associated with
1633-577: The U.S. Navy in World War I , as a shipboard radio operator, as an editor of a publication, and as commander of the crash rescue boat USS Inca . After discharge, he worked again in the meat-packing industry, acquiring management experience. In 1917, he married Anne Hewlett. During the early 1920s, he and his father-in-law developed the Stockade Building System for producing lightweight, weatherproof, and fireproof housing—although
1704-878: The University of Pennsylvania , Bryn Mawr College , Haverford College , Swarthmore College , and the University City Science Center ; as a result of this affiliation, the University of Pennsylvania appointed him university professor emeritus in 1975. Fuller believed human societies would soon rely mainly on renewable sources of energy , such as solar- and wind-derived electricity. He hoped for an age of "omni-successful education and sustenance of all humanity." Fuller referred to himself as "the property of universe" and during one radio interview he gave later in life, declared himself and his work "the property of all humanity." For his lifetime of work,
1775-418: The "technological ability to protect, nurture, support, and accommodate all growth needs of life", his analysis of the condition of "Spaceship Earth" caused him to conclude that at a certain time during the 1970s, humanity had attained an unprecedented state. He was convinced that the accumulation of relevant knowledge, combined with the quantities of major recyclable resources that had already been extracted from
1846-566: The 1960s, the Iselys converted a cottage-style house into a store, inspiring the name Vitamin Cottage. The store opened in Lakewood, Colorado , in 1963. In 1974, the second Vitamin Cottage location opened in Denver. Natural Grocers founded a cycling team in 1987. In 1995, the company name was briefly changed to Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Emporium. Margaret Isely died in 1997, and the Iselys' children took over
1917-553: The American transcendentalism movement. The unusual middle name, Buckminster, was an ancestral family name. As a child, Richard Buckminster Fuller tried numerous variations of his name. He used to sign his name differently each year in the guest register of his family summer vacation home at Bear Island, Maine. He finally settled on R. Buckminster Fuller. Fuller spent much of his youth on Bear Island , in Penobscot Bay off
1988-590: The Gold Dome included picketing and marches, but in September 2001, a couple extended the efforts by writing a song. Also, an Oklahoma-based company, Sonic Drive-In restaurants, offered up a billboard, located across the street from the Gold Dome, to the Citizens for the Golden Dome group. On the billboard was written "Stop the demolition of our historic landmark," as well as the phone numbers for Bank One and Walgreens. By December 2001, after several reprieves by
2059-637: The Gold Dome into a concert venue. Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller ( / ˈ f ʊ l ər / ; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist , writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist . He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more than 30 books and coining or popularizing such terms as " Spaceship Earth ", " Dymaxion " (e.g., Dymaxion house , Dymaxion car , Dymaxion map ), " ephemeralization ", " synergetics ", and " tensegrity ". Fuller developed numerous inventions, mainly architectural designs, and popularized
2130-583: The National Register of Historic Places. In August 2001, the Bank One president offered different alternatives to demolition of the building, including constructing a smaller building on a portion of the property to serve as the Bank One location next door to the gold dome building. The president left a sixty-day window for prospective buyers interested in saving the building to come forward, but did not state what would happen if no one offered to buy
2201-543: The Oklahoma City council voted to take over responsibility to pay back the loan to HUD. Irene Lam fell behind on her property tax obligations, failing to fulfill nearly fifty thousand dollars in property tax obligations to the City of Oklahoma City and only repaying interest upon the federal loan . Bank 7 in Oklahoma City foreclosed on the property and The Gold Dome was put up for auction on 13 September 2012 David Box,
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2272-472: The actual dome and have it transplanted to another site. An ownership group was formed, Gold Dome LLC, to take over financing of the building to save it. As of April 2011, Gold Dome owner an optometrist named Irene Lam had not maintained payment on the loans secured by the Oklahoma City council through United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the building. On 12 April 2011
2343-592: The architectural firm Fuller & Sadao Inc., whose first project was to design the large geodesic dome for the U.S. Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. This building is now the " Montreal Biosphère ". In 1962, the artist and searcher John McHale wrote the first monograph on Fuller, published by George Braziller in New York. After employing several Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU) graduate students to rebuild his models following an apartment fire in
2414-420: The bank president, the time allotted by Bank One for buyers wanting to preserve the Gold Dome to come forward was up. However, the Bank One officials agreed once again to extend the postponement of demolition until January. Bank One stated they were open to other alternatives, but would have to go forward with plans to sell the building to Walgreens if a buyer did not come forward. Bank One even offered to help save
2485-510: The building for $ 1.1 million. The new developers filed for a $ 2.5 million building permit in August 2016 to convert the building into a Natural Grocers store and preserve the dome. Land Run Commercial Properties entered negotiations with TempleLive in 2021. The company operates live music venues at historic Masonic temples in Ohio, Arkansas, and Kansas and is examining the feasibility of converting
2556-470: The building. The State Historic Preservation Office declared the building eligible for landmark status, although usually reserved for buildings at least 50 years old. A Bethany company, Blue Stuff, seemed to be the only viable hope for preservation of the Gold Dome. Blue Stuff planned to move into the building, having outgrown its own location. The company's spokesman did not feel the Gold Dome would be as costly to repair as Bank One claimed. Efforts to save
2627-412: The building. Changes to the building included large saltwater and freshwater fish tanks being placed in the lobby, as well as a digital touchscreen wall for guests to interact with. However, in March 2015, Gold Dome owner David Box announced that the property was back on the market after TEEMCO had fallen into financial distress with falling oil prices. In May 2015, Land Run Commercial Properties purchased
2698-472: The coast of Maine. He attended Froebelian Kindergarten He was dissatisfied with the way geometry was taught in school, disagreeing with the notions that a chalk dot on the blackboard represented an "empty" mathematical point , or that a line could stretch off to infinity . To him these were illogical, and led to his work on synergetics . He often made items from materials he found in the woods, and sometimes made his own tools. He experimented with designing
2769-781: The company operated around 162 retail grocery stores in around 20 states, mainly west of the Mississippi River (except California), and had approximately 3,000 employees. In 1955, Margaret and Philip Isely founded a door-to-door sales operation called the Builder's Foundation. The first store opened in 1958 in Denver, Colorado. The inspiration for the business came after the birth of their second child. Margaret became ill and found "conventional medicine" to be unhelpful to her. She treated herself using principles in Adelle Davis 's controversial book Let's Get Well . In
2840-446: The company would ultimately fail in 1927. Fuller recalled 1927 as a pivotal year of his life. His daughter Alexandra had died in 1922 of complications from polio and spinal meningitis just before her fourth birthday. Barry Katz, a Stanford University scholar who wrote about Fuller, found signs that around this time in his life Fuller had developed depression and anxiety . Fuller dwelled on his daughter's death, suspecting that it
2911-438: The earth, had attained a critical level, such that competition for necessities had become unnecessary. Cooperation had become the optimum survival strategy. He declared: "selfishness is unnecessary and hence-forth unrationalizable ... War is obsolete." He criticized previous utopian schemes as too exclusive and thought this was a major source of their failure. To work, he felt that a utopia needed to include everyone. Fuller
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2982-429: The efficiency of the entire process. Fuller also coined the word synergetics , a catch-all term used broadly for communicating experiences using geometric concepts, and more specifically, the empirical study of systems in transformation; his focus was on total system behavior unpredicted by the behavior of any isolated components. Fuller was a pioneer in thinking globally and explored energy and material efficiency in
3053-412: The fields of architecture, engineering, and design. In his book Critical Path (1981) he cited the opinion of François de Chadenèdes (1920–1999) that petroleum, from the standpoint of its replacement cost in our current energy "budget" (essentially, the net incoming solar flux ), had cost nature "over a million dollars" per U.S. gallon ($ 300,000 per litre) to produce. From this point of view, its use as
3124-523: The geodesic design by Walther Bauersfeld for the Zeiss-Planetarium , built some 28 years prior to Fuller's work, reveals that Fuller's Geodesic Dome patent (U.S. 2,682,235; awarded in 1954) is the same design as Bauersfeld's. Their construction is based on extending some basic principles to build simple " tensegrity " structures (tetrahedron, octahedron , and the closest packing of spheres), making them lightweight and stable. The geodesic dome
3195-491: The highest advantage of others. Fuller stated that this experience led to a profound re-examination of his life. He ultimately chose to embark on "an experiment, to find what a single individual could contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity." Speaking to audiences later in life, Fuller would frequently recount the story of his Lake Michigan experience, and its transformative impact on his life. In 1927, Fuller resolved to think independently which included
3266-660: The importance of this work, and employed his firm Geodesics, Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina to make small domes for the Marines . Within a few years, there were thousands of such domes around the world. Fuller's first "continuous tension – discontinuous compression" geodesic dome (full sphere in this case) was constructed at the University of Oregon Architecture School in 1959 with the help of students. These continuous tension – discontinuous compression structures featured single force compression members (no flexure or bending moments) that did not touch each other and were 'suspended' by
3337-495: The landing and taxiing qualities, and noted severe limitations in its handling. The team made improvements and refinements to the platform, and Fuller noted the Dymaxion "was an invention that could not be made available to the general public without considerable improvements". The bodywork was aerodynamically designed for increased fuel efficiency and its platform featured a lightweight cromoly-steel hinged chassis, rear-mounted V8 engine, front-drive, and three-wheels. The vehicle
3408-547: The other car hit the Dymaxion only after it had begun to roll over. Despite courting the interest of important figures from the auto industry, Fuller used his family inheritance to finish the second and third prototypes — eventually selling all three, dissolving Dymaxion Corporation and maintaining the Dymaxion was never intended as a commercial venture. One of the three original prototypes survives. Fuller's energy-efficient and inexpensive Dymaxion house garnered much interest, but only two prototypes were ever produced. Here
3479-549: The period leading up to his death, his wife had been lying comatose in a Los Angeles hospital, dying of cancer. It was while visiting her there that he exclaimed, at a certain point: "She is squeezing my hand!" He then stood up, had a heart attack, and died an hour later, at age 87. His wife of 66 years died 36 hours later. They are buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Buckminster Fuller
3550-400: The principles of science to solving the problems of humanity." From 1972 until retiring as university professor emeritus in 1975, Fuller held a joint appointment at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville , where he had designed the dome for the campus Religious Center in 1971. During this period, he also held a joint fellowship at a consortium of Philadelphia -area institutions, including
3621-551: The property to Walgreens , which would place the new pharmacy across the street from its competitor, Eckerd . A group organized to save the Gold Dome, "Citizens for the Golden Dome", appealed to the Bank One president, urging him not only to save the building in deference to its unique history and contribution to the "urban character" of OKC, but to also apply for landmark zoning from the OKC Historic Preservation and Landmark Commission, and apply for listing on
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#17327722767383692-570: The road at will, fly about, then, as deftly as a bird, settle back into a place in traffic". The Dymaxion car was a vehicle designed by Fuller, featured prominently at Chicago's 1933-1934 Century of Progress World's Fair. During the Great Depression , Fuller formed the Dymaxion Corporation and built three prototypes with noted naval architect Starling Burgess and a team of 27 workmen — using donated money as well as
3763-472: The solution to his family's struggles on long walks around Chicago. During the autumn of 1927, Fuller contemplated suicide by drowning in Lake Michigan, so that his family could benefit from a life insurance payment. Fuller said that he had experienced a profound incident which would provide direction and purpose for his life. He felt as though he was suspended several feet above the ground enclosed in
3834-537: The summer of 1959, Fuller was recruited by longtime friend Harold Cohen to serve as a research professor of "design science exploration" at the institution's School of Art and Design. According to SIU architecture professor Jon Davey, the position was "unlike most faculty appointments ... more a celebrity role than a teaching job" in which Fuller offered few courses and was only stipulated to spend two months per year on campus. Nevertheless, his time in Carbondale
3905-538: The tensional members. For half of a century, Fuller developed many ideas, designs, and inventions, particularly regarding practical, inexpensive shelter and transportation. He documented his life, philosophy, and ideas scrupulously by a daily diary (later called the Dymaxion Chronofile ), and by twenty-eight publications. Fuller financed some of his experiments with inherited funds, sometimes augmented by funds invested by his collaborators, one example being
3976-581: The term "Dymaxion" is used in effect to signify a "radically strong and light tensegrity structure". One of Fuller's Dymaxion Houses is on display as a permanent exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan . Designed and developed during the mid-1940s, this prototype is a round structure (not a dome), shaped something like the flattened "bell" of certain jellyfish. It has several innovative features, including revolving dresser drawers, and
4047-440: The tutelage of Arthur Penn , then a student at Black Mountain, Fuller broke through his inhibitions to become confident as a performer and speaker. At Black Mountain, with the support of a group of professors and students, he began reinventing a project that would make him famous: the geodesic dome . Although the geodesic dome had been created, built and awarded a German patent on June 19, 1925, by Dr. Walther Bauersfeld , Fuller
4118-535: The widely known geodesic dome ; carbon molecules known as fullerenes were later named by scientists for their structural and mathematical resemblance to geodesic spheres. He also served as the second World President of Mensa International from 1974 to 1983. Fuller was awarded 28 United States patents and many honorary doctorates. In 1960, he was awarded the Frank P. Brown Medal from The Franklin Institute . He
4189-673: The year of his death, Fuller described himself as follows: Guinea Pig B: I am now close to 88 and I am confident that the only thing important about me is that I am an average healthy human. I am also a living case history of a thoroughly documented, half-century, search-and-research project designed to discover what, if anything, an unknown, moneyless individual, with a dependent wife and newborn child, might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity that could not be accomplished by great nations, great religions or private enterprise, no matter how rich or powerfully armed. Fuller died on July 1, 1983, 11 days before his 88th birthday. During
4260-744: Was "extremely productive", and Fuller was promoted to university professor in 1968 and distinguished university professor in 1972. Working as a designer, scientist, developer, and writer, he continued to lecture for many years around the world. He collaborated at SIU with John McHale . In 1965, they inaugurated the World Design Science Decade (1965 to 1975) at the meeting of the International Union of Architects in Paris, which was, in Fuller's own words, devoted to "applying
4331-501: Was a Unitarian , and, like his grandfather Arthur Buckminster Fuller (brother of Margaret Fuller ), a Unitarian minister. Fuller was also an early environmental activist , aware of Earth's finite resources, and promoted a principle he termed " ephemeralization ", which, according to futurist and Fuller disciple Stewart Brand , was defined as "doing more with less". Resources and waste from crude, inefficient products could be recycled into making more valuable products, thus increasing
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#17327722767384402-531: Was a result of Fuller's exploration of nature's constructing principles to find design solutions. The Fuller Dome is referenced in the Hugo Award -winning novel Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner , in which a geodesic dome is said to cover the entire island of Manhattan , and it floats on air due to the hot-air balloon effect of the large air-mass under the dome (and perhaps its construction of lightweight materials). The Omni-Media-Transport: With such
4473-464: Was awarded United States patents. Fuller's patent application made no mention of Bauersfeld's self-supporting dome built some 26 years prior. Although Fuller undoubtedly popularized this type of structure he is mistakenly given credit for its design. One of his early models was first constructed in 1945 at Bennington College in Vermont, where he lectured often. Although Bauersfeld's dome could support
4544-573: Was connected with the Fullers' damp and drafty living conditions. This provided motivation for Fuller's involvement in Stockade Building Systems , a business which aimed to provide affordable, efficient housing. In 1927, at age 32, Fuller lost his job as president of Stockade. The Fuller family had no savings, and the birth of their daughter Allegra in 1927 added to the financial challenges. Fuller drank heavily and reflected upon
4615-475: Was elected an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1967, on the occasion of the 50-year reunion of his Harvard class of 1917 (from which he had been expelled in his first year). He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1968. The same year, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member. He became a full Academician in 1970, and he received
4686-497: Was expelled from Harvard twice: first for spending all his money partying with a vaudeville troupe, and then, after having been readmitted, for his "irresponsibility and lack of interest." By his own appraisal, he was a non-conforming misfit in the fraternity environment. Between his sessions at Harvard, Fuller worked in Canada as a mechanic in a textile mill , and later as a laborer in the meat-packing industry . He also served in
4757-560: Was influenced by Alfred Korzybski 's idea of general semantics . In the 1950s, Fuller attended seminars and workshops organized by the Institute of General Semantics , and he delivered the annual Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture in 1955. Korzybski is mentioned in the Introduction of his book Synergetics . The two shared a remarkable amount of similarity in their general semantics formulations. In his 1970 book, I Seem To Be
4828-400: Was lead designer, architect, and engineer for both companies. Richard Lewontin , a new faculty member in population genetics at North Carolina State University, provided Fuller with computer calculations for the lengths of the domes' edges. Fuller began working with architect Shoji Sadao in 1954, together designing a hypothetical Dome over Manhattan in 1960, and in 1964 they co-founded
4899-432: Was steered via the third wheel at the rear, capable of 90° steering lock . Able to steer in a tight circle, the Dymaxion often caused a sensation, bringing nearby traffic to a halt. Shortly after launch, a prototype rolled over and crashed, killing the Dymaxion's driver and seriously injuring its passengers. Fuller blamed the accident on a second car that collided with the Dymaxion. Eyewitnesses reported, however, that
4970-549: Was that the strongest possible homogeneous truss is cyclically tetrahedral. He had become a guru of the design, architecture, and "alternative" communities, such as Drop City , the community of experimental artists to whom he awarded the 1966 "Dymaxion Award" for "poetically economic" domed living structures. Fuller was most famous for his lattice shell structures – geodesic domes , which have been used as parts of military radar stations, civic buildings, environmental protest camps, and exhibition attractions. An examination of
5041-548: Was the beginning of their lifelong friendship. Fuller taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina during the summers of 1948 and 1949, serving as its Summer Institute director in 1949. Fuller had been shy and withdrawn, but he was persuaded to participate in a theatrical performance of Erik Satie's Le piège de Méduse produced by John Cage , who was also teaching at Black Mountain. During rehearsals, under
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